The main loss will be to the neighborhood -- unique niche stores like that are part of what made Uptown interesting in the first place. Change is inevitable, of course, and I don't fault their landlord for the decision they made. But it's still a loss.

Precisely! I welcome change, it's going to happen anyways. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't have a heart for some of the things that are lost in change.

It is weird how so many on this forum seem to be pathologically incapable of sentimentality. Normal people aren't like that.

I think some people here need to take a slight step back from progressprogressprogress to breathe and appreciate the human aspect for a second. Yes, it's great there will be more housing going up. Yes, it's great that he's still in business and moving somewhere. But it's still sad that the neighborhood the store was in won't have it anymore because I'm sure the guy loves what he does. Even if people can recognize that for a second that's good. It's not asking for much.

It is weird how so many on this forum seem to be pathologically incapable of sentimentality. Normal people aren't like that.

Pathological? Maybe just realistic. My boyfriend and I are artists, we have lots of sentiment and both have many labors of love. But that doesn't mean we can't be pragmatic. We both have jobs, are in school and work hard and plan for our future. I live in the neighborhood, we have our work up in shops in uptown regularly, and are a part of what make up the neighborhood character. People who have a labor of love are not given a pass for having to plan and be ready, its even more important, crucial even, so that we can keep up our passions.

It is weird how so many on this forum seem to be pathologically incapable of sentimentality. Normal people aren't like that.

I see where you're coming from here. I think part of the issue is the way this particular article and many articles like this in general are framed. City Pages writing around land use is usually pretty inflammatory and gets people riled up (because that gets clicks) and so comments are filled with people yelling about "condos" and destroying Uptown and etc etc. So a lot of us are kind of forced (even if subconsciously) to come as vehemently in favor of the change as the general tenor is opposed. And you lose some nuance when you take an extreme position (on either side).

I think also related to that, or just related to some of us always feeling on "the defensive" when it comes to new development, every mention of being said a place is going away or changing has an implied followup (real or imagined) of "and this is why we should stop that change."

So you're right, we can be sentimental about the past and nostalgic and even be "sad" that a part of our past is going away. I know for me, reading about the development of the Miracle Mile in Rochester, I'm a little "sad" because I have memories as a child of going into certain shops there with my mom. That doesn't mean I wish those shops were still there, it just means I have the capability to look back fondly on a part of my past.

Maybe we need better words to describe the feeling of being able to have positive memories of the past but also to look forward to the changes the future will bring.

Does anyone remember what is going in at the NE corner of Henn and 35th? I think it was to be a small commercial building? Maybe it is something else now? Either way, the old (in very poor shape) house is now gone. This is actually on my block...but I don't know if it is a house or commercial going in.

Does anyone remember what is going in at the NE corner of Henn and 35th? I think it was to be a small commercial building? Maybe it is something else now? Either way, the old (in very poor shape) house is now gone. This is actually on my block...but I don't know if it is a house or commercial going in.

In addition to FMP's comments re: sentimentality (which I almost 100% agree with), I think there's room for people to be sentimental but maybe not about the same things you are. I have fond memories/nostalgia/sentiment for certain times in my life, like living with 10 close friends in a college house and all the wacky shit that happened (RIP, 701 15th Ave SE), or what my first-born kid was like when he first started to walk and talk (and now at 3 he feels like a straight-up kid). I even have a weird sentimentality for my first house in Lakeville with a third acre yard (that I mostly hated) because there were some good times in it (renting rooms out to 3 friends, meeting my now-wife, planning our wedding there, getting our first and then second dog, etc). Anyway it's possible to be a not-robot while still maybe not having the same sentimental feeling toward a business or even a building in your neighborhood that other people do. And then even if/when you do, it's possible to still be a booster for change because while I'm sad to see the comic shop go (as a CARAG resident, my kid is just now old enough to walk there with me and pick something out now and again - I'll miss that!) I'm equally/more excited for what the new development will bring.

And I really don't want this to come off as condescending (because I really don't mean it this way), but after my dad had a quadruple bypass (nearly died, made it through) and my wife's dad had a heart attack and passed away when she was 26 - both within 6 months of each other - I kinda took stock of the things that are worth getting very sad (or angry) about in the (hopefully) 80 years or so I'll have on this planet. Most of the "unique" or "cool" things Uptown has or had aren't things I can't live without, and maybe I'm wrong but I can't recall a particular business that was critical to the neighborhood's low-income population going away either. Anyway.

Joe Biden had a nice comment tonight at a keynote at ULI/CNU in Seattle: he suggested it'd be a lot better for democracy to have people question someone's judgement, not motives. He shared an oft-cited lesson learned for him about Jesse Helms, who didn't support broader rights for those with disabilities and how Biden had questioned Helms on his care for those with disabilities only to learn that Helms had adopted a child who had a disability.

I think that applies to the YIMBY movement as well. You can be for development in general but also be sad and recognize that others have valid concerns about the change in their community, issues of displacement, etc.